Frohe Weihnachten Mike

eckart

thuchan December 25, 2011 07:21

hi Mike,

i see your darTZeel comment above and could not agree more, the dart pre and amp just do everything so 'right' that you just listen to music and don't give them a second thought. solid state? tubes? you don't even think about it, just music!

enjoy!

Merry Christmas to you, Patty and the boys!

mikelavigne December 24, 2011 19:00

System edited: System edited, added the Denon DP-6700, HRS Analog Disc and Dertonarm's P2S. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

rugyboogie December 24, 2011 15:22

Hi Natan
I am very glad that you are enjoying the darTZeel gear.
With the zeel one forgets about the gear and it's all about the music. The build quality and as you said and the support from Herve is really special.
Let me know which cables you settle on. Had the Kubala in my system for a short time and settled on the Valhalla's.
Take care and all the best.

rugyboogie November 24, 2011 03:36

Hi RugyBoogie

Very nice system - eh !
I can't still cant believe your treasure chest story - can't imagine the feeling you must of had when you opened it the first time ?
Like others here the audio stands really caught my eye.
They are giving me ideas.
Is the Kuzma your first tangent arm or have you had others ?

Cheers Chris

ct0517 November 24, 2011 00:37

Hello Rugyboogie,

I bought the 18NS and it is everything that I want in a preamp and more. CAT ultimate and Wavac PRT1 each have their strengths and are great preamps that I have thoroughly enjoyed, but the 18NS combines these strengths and betters these preamps in some respects that are important to me and within my system.

But more importantly listening to music has taken center stage more than ever before. It is riveting, emotional, interesting... my new Critical Mass Systems Maxxum rack has a little to do with this but that's another story.

Regards,
Natan

Soon after buying the 18ns, adding the 108 and a Dartzeel BNC link was a no brainer.

I am elated with the overall result, Herve's support, and I have not even optimized the system with cabling... will be trying Kubala Sosna Elation, CH Acoustics X20, and Evolution Acoustics.

Regards,
Natan

natan6355 November 21, 2011 14:10

The SS tubing is from a local steel fabrication shop in Langley , BC.
The tubing is 2" diameter, threaded rod is 1/2" brass, SS fender washers and nuts are also SS.
The shelving is assembled and is in a mode of compression.
The bottom shelf has the threaded rod protruding 2" in order to receive a brass cone, SS nuts to lock the cone.
Next 1/4" space then another nut then fender washer.
These four nuts get leveled.
Once all four nuts on the threaded rod are leveled, shelf gets installed. This is actually easier with the shelf installed.
On top of the very first shelf another washer and nut to "squeeze" the shelf as tight as permissible.
Then comes the 2" SS tube which gets filled with lead shot and sand. Once filled the tubes are hit with a rubber mallet in order for the shot and sand combo to settle down the tube. Tube is refilled to the top of the pipe and hit again until no more settling occurs.
Next shelf gets installed, washer and nut get tighten and the process starts all over again.
Hope this helps.

rugyboogie November 06, 2011 15:49

where did you find the tubing for the stands?

How does the tubing secure to the Stand?

Or are you using Threaded Rod inside the tubing secured with Washers and nuts top & bottom of each shelf?

kaplandesign November 05, 2011 02:20

We're doing alright, Mike :-)
Same to you, Patty, and the Boys!
How's the island project coming along?

Vbr,
Sam

c1ferrari October 30, 2011 21:47

Hi Sam
Hope that all is well with you and Sunny.
Yes I would love to be closer to your neck of the woods.
Have my room apart so that I can rearrange my shelving system. The turntables were too high when sitting on top of the shelves. Therefore different height tube will be used to lower the overall height of the shelving units.
Purchased a Festool vacuum with a Oneida Air Box in order to extract and reuse all of the lead shot that is in the stainless steel tubes. This tool combo made the extraction a very simple process. No having to find and vacuum lead shot from the carpet.
The shelving will be back together today. It will take some time to get all of the gear back in, rewire and with some luck have it up making music again.
Take care,
Mike

rugyboogie October 30, 2011 13:23

Hi Mike!

Just wanted to check in...wish we lived closer :-)

Vbr,
Sam

c1ferrari October 23, 2011 00:40

Hi Vince and Nata

Hope that you get a chance to listen to the dartzeel. It is a very good preamp.

System change on the video side, have a Sony CX7000ES that is now keeping things organized on the Blue ray library. Took almost three hours to load the discs.
Installing tonight to see how the Gracenote interface works with the Sony.
This will make choosing a movie much simpler, I hope.

Audio side, installing new SS tubing for the shelves that I build. Presently too high for the turntables, therefore the SS pipes will be shorter to bring the overall height of the top shelf down by six inches.
Will post pics once done.

rugyboogie October 22, 2011 14:41

Hello Vince,
I am also considering Dart preamp and bass is very important to me. Have not auditioned yet. Currently have CAT ultimate and Wavac PRt1 preamps. Both have strengths and weaknesses. Suffice it to say that I wish I could have the transparency and purity of Wavac and the bass grip of the CAT with multifunctionality and more interconnectivity in one chassis. I use 2 outboard powered subs and and have 2 main amps that I alternate. I think, I hope the Dart preamp can do this. We'll See.

Natan

natan6355 August 10, 2011 21:27

Hello Rugyboogie,

Thank for your feedback. I guess I should try to find a way to listen to the dartzeel 18N in my system. I listed to the VTL 7.5 series 3 and really liked them them in every aspect, but I have not been able to compare them to the Dartzeel 18N that so many people, like you, believe is the best.
Cheers,

Vicente

vn101606 August 06, 2011 12:12

Happy Canada Day !!

Belated Happy Canada Day to you and family, Mikel :-)

Vbr,
Sam

c1ferrari July 02, 2011 22:59

System Update:

Added the Uni-Protractor designed by Dertonearm.
Very useful tool for set up of tonearms and cartridges.

Happy Canada Day !!

rugyboogie July 01, 2011 11:38

Dmanikas

The Bat VK 6200 is used in my home theater set up, and not for two channel listening.
At the time of purchase I found it to be the most dynamic, best layering of sound stage of the multi channel amplifiers that I had access to.
The other amps that were auditioned were Arcam, Krell and Anthem.

Take care,

rugyboogie May 24, 2011 01:59

So how did the BAT VK-6200 work out and how did it compare to some of the other amps you've had?

dmanikas May 19, 2011 04:38

Hi Vince

Sorry for the delay, sent my 18 year old son to Japan last week and well you know what's happening there.

Have no personal experience in my room with the Krell or the VTL and cannot comment.

The dart preamp is exceptionally musical and can say that I do not feel that I am "missing" anything in the bass dept.
My personal references that I used in my room are the following.
ASR Emitter II Exclusive Blue Version, Convergent Audio, ML and Supratek.
Vince, I know that I have not answered your question but hope this helped. If you are close by, you are more than welcome to drop by for a visit.
You cannot go wrong with the dart, but that's my biased opinion. Biased because I own it and love it.

Take care,

rugyboogie March 12, 2011 20:58

Hello,

Fantastic system, congratulations!

I currently use a Levinson 380s preamp. I read a lot of good things about the Dartzeel 18N preamp, but also that its bass is not as forceful. Bass is very important for me, so I am considering a Krell 202 or a VTL 7.5 mark III.

How would you describe the bass of the Dartzeel? Any comparisons with the above?

Thanks a lot.

vn101606 March 08, 2011 16:09

SME 312S AND FR 64S...VERY impressive, Mike!

Vbr,
Sam

c1ferrari March 06, 2011 15:45

System edited: Added two tonearms. SME 312S and a Fidelity Research FR 64S with their heavy VTA adjustment collar/base.

rugyboogie March 05, 2011 14:30

Mjcmt

Let's see if I can clarify this.

For two channel listening the darTZeel preamp has multiple outputs options. BNC, RCA and XLR.

The 50 ohm BNC zeelcable connects to the dart amp.

The RCA Valhalla connects to the Wyetech amp.

These two output connections are always plugged into the darTZeel preamp and the two amplifiers.

When using either amplifier I have to switch the Valhalla speaker cables. They are long enough so that they stay connected at the Wilson Maxx II speaker side but have to be changed at the amplifier side.
This is a bit of an inconvenience, but not to big of a hassle.

For movies the the darTZeel preamp, darTZeel and Wyetech amplifiers do not get used.

Processor is the Theta Calablanca.
The BAT VK6200 is a five channel amplifier which sits behind the center channel speaker. This is how I power the five speakers. The sub is self powered.

The Wilson Watt Puppy 5 are being used as rear surrounds and the Wilson Watch is being used as the center channel. These three speakers are connected with their own speaker cables directly from the BAT VK6200 amplifier.

The front left and right channel are the Maxx IIs.
Here is where it gets tricky.
The VK6200 front left and right speaker cables get connected to the back of either of two channel amplifiers binding posts. Another words the amplifiers binding post are being used as a connection/jumper post.

For example :
When the darTZeel amp is in use for two channel listening and I switch to movie mode.

First, all of the two channel gear is off.
The speaker cables from the darTZeel amp are connected to the Maxx IIs.
The five channel amplifier front left and right speaker cable get connected to the binding post on the back of the darTzeel amp.
This way I do not have to go the back of the MAXX II speakers to change to cables.

Whenever I listen to two channel, the speaker cables from the VK6200 get removed from the two channel amp so that there is no interaction.

Sounds complicated but its very easy to implement.

So, in a way I have three systems options in my room.

Hope I have answered your question.

Take care,

rugyboogie January 08, 2011 16:07

Can you please explain to me how you have all your fine gear hooked up for 2 channel music and 5.1 movies. Do you have 2 systems in this one room? Sorry, but I don't understand.

mjcmt January 06, 2011 16:16

Papaya

Sorry for the delay, was in Panama for Xmas.

The dart drives the my Maxx II without any issues what so ever. Original concern was that the amp would clip, so far it never has. The dart pre and amp are a symbiotic match.
Congrats on the preamp, you will love it.

Happy and Healthy New Year to all !!

rugyboogie January 05, 2011 17:42